Sennheiser HD 598 & HD 598 SE, Awesome Stuff Week: Unwrapped!
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2016-05-06
·
1,806 words · ~9 min read
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I am back for yet another edition of Awesome Stuff Week sponsored by YouTube.
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This time it's awesome stuff unwrapped with the theme of holiday gifts for
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others or that you can buy for yourself if you're into that sort of thing. And
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they've even got this experimental new ad unit that allows you to buy the item
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that's being featured through the video itself. Crazy, right? Anyway, Monday's
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focus for Awesome Stuff Unwrapped is right in my wheelhouse. You guessed it,
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makeup.
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Corsair's RMI series power supplies feature premium components for great
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performance with very low noise. Check out the link in the video description to
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learn more. So, I was racking my brain for an awesome tech gift. I went, you
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know what? I am really tired of seeing people buy crappy headphones for each
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other. And when you combine that with the fact that I've never covered one of
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the primo value audio file headphones out there, the Sennheiser HD598s, and
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the fact that they just launched a black SE variant, not to mention that we
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didn't have a lot of time to throw this video together, and I already have a fair bit of experience with this
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product's very similar predecessor, and we've got ourselves a recipe for a
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video. So, let's take a look at today's prize, Philly. Inside the box, you'll
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find the headphones themselves with a cleverly locking detachable 3meter cord,
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a headphone jack adapter, so you can use them with anything from your MP3 player
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to your standalone headphone amplifier, and in the case of the SE, a shorter 1.2
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meter cord that will likely be preferred by folks who want to use their new
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headphones with a portable music player. On that subject, at 50 ohms, the HD598s
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are a little on the high impedance side
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to get the most out of them with any but the best portable amps. But with that
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said, I didn't find them entirely lifeless with my Xperia Z5 Compact to
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the point where I would entirely avoid them if you want to use them while
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you're on the go sometimes without a standalone powered amp. Not that most
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people are going to want to use the regular one while they're out and about
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anyway. I can't think of too many outfits that would go with this
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particular color scheme. So, I I don't
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know. I guess it's hard for me to describe these physically any further
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other than to say that well, they're headphones. Uh you'll find the 53mm
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dynamic drivers angled strategically towards your ear canals in each cup
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surrounded by velour pads. There are two hinges. You got your up and down and
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your left and right to help the headphones fit on a variety of head
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shapes better. And then between the cushioned headband and the ear cups
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themselves is a regrettably plastic, but from my experience, still fairly robust
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size adjust mechanism. Enough about those though. What else will I be
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comparing them against? I still don't have an ABX listening setup,
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unfortunately. Uh part of the reason why you won't be seeing me evaluate any amps
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or DAXs, which are much more difficult to tell from each other until that
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changes. So, I am stuck with adjusting my listening levels to 80 dB with a 1
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kHz test tone and then just switching between headphones and giving you guys
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my impressions. So, I went with a higherend lower reference point in
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Sennheiser's signature sound, my old HD555s and my daily driver HD600's. And
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then to represent similar tier models from other popular manufacturers, I've
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got the K7XX from AKG and DT990 Pros
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from Bear Dynamic. Let's talk fit first.
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Since nothing in my test suite today falls into the uncomfortable category,
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the HD598 has its work cut out for it
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here. AKG's K7XX suspension and leather
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head strap system works really well because their massive ear cups allow
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sufficient clamping pressure to keep most of the weight off of the top of the
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head without pressure points. While both Sennheiser and Bayer Dynamic take a
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different approach here and feature velour cushioned ear cups and cushioned
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pleather headbands. Compared to the DT990s, I wouldn't say I like
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Sennheiser's approach better, but I'd call it more of a tradeoff. For the
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headband, Sennheiser goes for a thicker kind of you can actually hear it airride
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type system that I find doesn't distribute the weight on my head as
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well, but is by no means uncomfortable. And then again on the ear cups, the
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HD598s use a firmer foam and a a
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shallower velour that is comfortable but
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kind of lacks the warm hug from a friend on my head effect. The flip side of that
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is that the HD598s keep my head and ears cooler while I am listening. So, from a
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comfort perspective, there's really no loser here, except I would say the
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K7XXs get edged out by both the DT990s
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and the 598s. But with that said, I can wear any of these models for hours
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without that, oh goodness, my head is finally free feeling once I remove them.
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Which actually leads to another super positive thing I noticed here. The last
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time I bought a new headphone, my HD600s
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were secondhand from Sennheiser's openbacked audio file lineup was the
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HD555s, and those things grabbed your head like a vice out of the box and only
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started fitting like a a perfectly tailored glove after a few months. The
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598s, on the other hand, are awesome out of the box. And while I'm actually
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comparing them to the 555s, in terms of build quality, they're similar except
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that the plastic at the hinge here, which on my 555s cracked like so many
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others, seems to be a bit more robust.
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Let's get into how they sound. I used a light harmonic geek out for all
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listening today with my usual mix of top 40 music because that's what I listen to
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and so do a lot of people. In a nutshell, the HD598s are worth every
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penny of what the nonSE model is going for at the moment. Depending on where
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you're shopping, and even at their MSRP, you're not going to be, you know, upset
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that you got ripped off. Take that with a grain of salt from me, though, because
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I'll be the first to admit that I've always loved the Sennheiser sound
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signature, derisively referred to by people who don't like it as the
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Sennheiser Veil because of the way their frequency response falls off a cliff in
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the high-end. That has the undesired effect of reducing clarity or sparkle in
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the high range. But with poor quality recordings, pretty common thanks to the
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loudness war of audio mastering, it makes highfrequency instruments,
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particularly percussion, less fatiguing
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to listen to, which I personally prefer. By comparison, the K7XX and DT990 Pros
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do a better job of retaining details in the highs with the DT990s also hitting
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the bass a bit harder, but not to the point where, you know, anything that I'm
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looking at today would be a bass headphone either. Overall, I think the
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best way to describe the listening experience with the HD598s is smooth and
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easy. And and I know those are stupid audio file words that don't really tell
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you anything objectively, but if you were interested in objective data, then
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headphone.com is the place to go anyway.
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And honestly, I don't need that to reach the conclusion about this video.
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compared to almost all of the more consumer oriented headphones out there,
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even Sennheiser's own Urbanite line that did I did not get a positive review from
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me about a year ago. Whether you go with the brown or black edition with the same
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internals, the HD598s aren't going to knock your earrings out with thumping
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bass, but they're a bang for the buck winner. If you or someone you know is a
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budding audio file who wants to listen to his or her music the way it was
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really meant to be listened
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to. Speaking of listening to listen to
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me talk about iFixit for $10 off your
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purchase of $50 or more. You guys can go to ifixit.com/Linus and enter the code
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techtips at checkout. Well, hold on a second, Linus. What's iFix ifixit? Why
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would I want to buy anything there? Ah, great question. If you've ever wanted to
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repair a tablet or a notebook computer or phone and you've been like, best
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guide for repairing device X, the odds are excellent that you've ended up over
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on ifixit.com. They've got all kinds of fantastic guides for tearing down
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devices and repairing them, replacing batteries to get the most out of the
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stuff that you paid your good hard money for. And the thing that most people
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don't know and where the offer code comes in is that iFixit not only has
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these guides, but they've got all the tools you need. Suction cups, prying
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tools, tweezers, magnets, hard to find screwdriver bits, all that stuff
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available on their site. They even got they even invented a tool to apply
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consistent heat directly to adhesive laden case components so you can get
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them apart. It's called the eye opener because it's for opening eye devices.
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Anyway, um anyway, don't worry about the jokes or the product names. Worry about
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heading over to ifixit.com/Linus and entering code techtips at the
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checkout. So, that's pretty much it, guys. Thanks for watching. If you just
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liked this video, you know what to do. You guys are so good at finding that
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direct monthly contribution to our community form to get a cool little contributor badge. Now that you're done
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doing all that stuff, you're probably wondering, "What should I watch next?" So, click that little bit bitten button.
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Click the button top right corner. Check out the video where I build a router.
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Yes, let's go with that today.